1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed generally to cooling electronic devices and, more particularly, to an air-cooling system configuration for electronic devices arranged at places where sufficient cooling/exhaust air movement is not readily available, such as wall mounted touch screens or other electronic displays.
2. Related Art
It is widely known and recognized in the electronics industry that heat dissipation is a serious consideration in the design and operation of electronic devices. This is especially true for densely packaged electronic circuit components and in particular integrated circuit (IC) components together with printed circuit boards (PCB). It is known, for example, that to operate IC components at full power capability, there should be no or very little temperature difference between the IC components and ambient air. To achieve this, various techniques have been applied to cooling of the IC components, including blowing cooling air over the IC components. However, in many applications where forced air may be available, it may not be used because the amount of air is limited or insufficient, or enough space to implement an air-cooling system may not be available without elaborate structural reconfiguration.
Consumer electronic devices, for example, flat panel display devices such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), plasma monitors/television sets and the like, are typically stand alone type devices that are allowed to freely intake air from their surroundings to cool the internal IC components and PCBs, and hence are usually configured such that they do not have an internal cooling system. However, when these devices are situated where the amount of intake air is limited or insufficient and/or not enough space is readily available for implementing a proper cooling system, heat will build up and the device performance and life span often will be adversely affected.
In this same regard, it has become a trend for consumer electronic devices to become part of a building's structure including the mounting of televisions or other displays to a wall surface, and the like. Being in close association with the building structure creates additional disadvantages in the area of cooling the device. For example, when a flat panel display is mounted on or inserted in a compartment formed in a wall, the majority of its rear side where major ventilation and heat dissipation occur is blocked, thereby increasing the internal temperature.
With the advent of higher-end, faster operating, and more complex electronic devices, there is a need to cool these devices in a way that was not previously contemplated by either the stand alone devices or the other prior art approaches. Accordingly, there is a need for an efficient air-cooling system configuration for electronic devices used in situations where a sufficient amount of air is not readily available for heat dissipation, such as wall-mounted devices.